The National Park Service (NPS) announced on Tuesday that it plans to capture and relocate the coyote that made headlines across the country after swimming 1.25 miles through the frigid San Francisco Bay to Alcatraz Island.
Floyd is believed to be the first documented coyote on the island since the NPS took over in 1972.
The coyote nicknamed “Floyd” has biologists worried that the lack of fresh water and the limited protective cover for inclement weather would make it unsustainable for the coyote’s long term survival. Plans are being weighed to relocate Floyd to a “natural undeveloped area in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
After Floyd was first spotted, looking extremely skinny and tired after his long swim, recent sightings of the coyote have shown him looking to be quite healthy. Floyd seems to have been hunting local prey including mice and gophers.
Many wildlife advocates are asking the NPS to leave Floyd alone, however some biologists have concluded that the island’s sensitive bird populations, including cormorants might become prey for the coyote and interfere with nesting. While generally not endangered, specific local populations might face threats.
While some wildlife advocates argued for letting the coyote stay, officials concluded that the survival of the island’s sensitive bird populations—including cormorants—outweighs the presence of a single predator
According to SFGate, the island hosts some of the largest nesting populations of cormorants and western gulls in the Bay Area. Nesting season is expected to begin within days, and at that time the shoreline will be fenced off to the public.
If the priority is to protect threatened seabirds, giving the coyote a chance to disperse elsewhere could be kinder than the other option: lethal removal, which would give it no chance at all…
What do you think?
(Photos via NPS)
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Grateful goose 😉
